BATON ROUGE -- Thousands of LSU fans must resort to online ticket brokerages and face sky-high prices if they want to get into the Superdome for the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7.

All 143 state legislators, however, are sitting pretty for the Tigers' matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Louisiana State University offered each lawmaker -- including dozens who will leave office a week after the game because of term limits, retirement or electoral defeat -- an option to buy two tickets at the face value of $175 each.

All 39 members of the Senate bought tickets, as did the 104 House members who are still in office until Jan. 14. One House seat is vacant. Many legislators also bought up to four additional tickets -- again, at face value -- from the Sugar Bowl Committee, which is hosting the title game.

Newly elected lawmakers were not offered either option.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, meanwhile, will welcome 42 yet-to-be identified guests to a Superdome suite she has used throughout her term to entertain supporters, potential industrial recruits, lawmakers and her family and friends.

Special ticket access for lawmakers is neither new nor confined to Louisiana, and it does not run afoul of the state ethics code. LSU has for years offered legislators an opportunity to buy season tickets for its home games.

Blanco's Superdome suite, among the largest in a building that state taxpayers help finance, comes with her job. But critics say the legislative deals in particular send the wrong message about the motives and mores of elected officials.

"Even though they are paying face value for these, it is indeed a perk the average citizen is not afforded," said Jim Brandt, president of the Public Affairs Research Council.

Besides lawmakers, LSU spread its ticket allotment -- about 15,000 seats -- among faculty, staff, students and members of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, which ranks its members on a point system that recognizes the cumulative amount and duration of a donor's contributions. That leaves out thousands of fans who paid for tickets to earlier LSU games this season, to say nothing of the general public.

As of Wednesday evening, prices for championship tickets on two popular online ticket sources ranged from about $1,000 to $4,000, though some prime sideline locations commanded more. Suite rentals, with at least 20 tickets and catering, ranged from $42,300 to $237,500.

Barry Erwin, Brandt's counterpart at the Council for a Better Louisiana, said, "People see legislators get something that they cannot get. . . . It just looks bad. When you have things that look bad to the public, it creates one more negative perception that we don't need."

Perhaps most inconveniently for lawmakers who are returning for another term, the attention comes amid Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal's promise to push ethics law changes that he says will help rehabilitate Louisiana's reputation for political shenanigans.

Jindal's campaign platform suggests that his agenda will not include limitations on football tickets for legislators. And it's not clear that such restrictions are even possible. But a special session on ethics is expected to focus on various perks -- tickets, meals, greens fees, trips -- afforded to lawmakers.

The governor-elect, who by most accounts is not a football aficionado, said he plans to watch the LSU-Ohio State game at home with his family. Still, one of his top advisers did inquire about getting tickets and later rejected an offer from LSU officials to buy 10 at face value. Jindal and his wife, Supriya, also turned down an invitation from Blanco to join her in the governor's suite.

Rep. Jim Tucker, an Algiers Republican who is in line to become speaker of the House in January, said legislators are in a "no-win situation" when asked about buying such a hot item. He said he bought tickets, but said he is also a donor to LSU athletics, coughing up $1,600 annually to cover his foundation contribution and tickets in the legislative block.

"I don't think this is a big deal," Tucker said. "We've got way bigger problems in Louisiana than legislators getting to pay face price for tickets to LSU football games."

Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, was reluctant to talk about the tickets. "Do we have to go there?" he asked before confirming that he paid for four Sugar Bowl tickets and six championship game tickets. He said he has not decided whether to attend either game.

State Sen. Mike Smith, D-Winnfield, was unapologetic for buying whatever tickets he could get. The Tiger Athletic Foundation donor said his family has had the right to buy 12 season tickets since his father entered the Legislature five decades ago.

"I didn't run for office for the money or for the perks," he said. "But you show me the man who won't take it. There ain't one." Smith, barred by term limits from an additional four years, said he gives away many tickets to constituents and customers of his car dealership.

Senate spokeswoman Brenda Hodge said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, is providing six tickets for a raffle to benefit Down syndrome programs. Sen. Robert Barham, R-Oak Ridge, gave two tickets to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which in turn will provide them to a terminally ill child, Hodge said.

Smith said lawmakers deserve some recompense for the public scrutiny, long hours and middling pay their positions bring. "The press and the public need to get over this thing," he said. "If people want these tickets so bad, tell them to run for office."

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch confirmed that LSU's title game opponent is offering a similar deal -- two tickets at face price -- to each member of the Ohio Legislature and the state's congressional delegation.

The Sugar Bowl Committee's offer applies only to Louisiana lawmakers. The committee usually offers legislators options on Sugar Bowl tickets. This year, the first time the committee has hosted both the traditional game and the championship finale, lawmakers could buy up to four tickets to each game, though a buyer had to order Sugar Bowl tickets to qualify for the additional game. Legislators had to submit their requests before the Dec. 2 announcement of each game's participants.

Every senator except C.D. Jones, D-Monroe, took advantage of the Sugar Bowl offer as a means to championship tickets. Hodge said five senators, including Barham, allowed others to buy their allotment.

House staff members did not respond to an inquiry about the Sugar Bowl option, but Tucker and Greene said many of their colleagues maximized their ticket opportunities.

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Capital bureau reporter Jan Moller contributed to this report.

Bill Barrow can be reached at bbarrow@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-5590.